The present invention relates to an application device for applying a multicomponent tissue adhesive. The invention further relates to a holding device for keeping the supply reservoirs and a connecting headpiece, having the supply reservoirs coupled thereto, attached to each other.
An application device for applying a multicomponent tissue adhesive is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,368, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,336, U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,375 and EP-B-0 037 393, respectively. In these known application devices, the two supply reservoirs containing the adhesive components are held together by a holding device which makes it possible to hold the application device between the fingers of a hand and to operate the device by one hand. The conically tapering outlet connecting pieces of the two supply reservoirs are inserted into the accommodating connecting pieces of a connecting headpiece, wherein the accommodating connecting pieces are arranged as syringes with cylinders and pistons. Since these outlet connecting pieces have an inner cone of the same angle as the outer cone of the supply-reservoir outlet connecting pieces, the connecting pieces of the supply reservoir become wedged with those of the connecting headpiece, thus resulting in a certain axial securing effect of this coupling connection. However, this axial retentive force may be too small if the channels extending through the connecting headpiece from the accommodating connecting pieces up to a common discharge end are clogged. Thus, when actuating the pistons, the connecting headpiece may become detached from the supply reservoirs because of the pressure build-up within the supply reservoirs, rendering the application device inoperable.
For this reason, it is provided in another known application device described in WO-A-95/31137 that the connecting head is mechanically secured by a coupling element on the holding device to thus preclude undesired detachment from the outlet connecting pieces of the supply reservoirs. The coupling element of this known application device is lockingly inserted into openings of the connecting headpiece and the holding device. Although this connection is mechanically reliable, it can be released only with difficulties, which can be desirable e.g. to allow a quick refill of the supply reservoirs. In the commercially available tissue adhesive application system Duploject (Duploject is a registered trademark) of the Immuno company the connecting headpiece has a connecting strip elastically attached thereto, wherein the free end of the connecting strip facing away from the connecting headpiece is provided with a bore. The free end is adapted for mounting on a pin of the holding device. The mechanical connecting of the connecting strip to the holding device requires a certain precision in handling, which may be disturbing.